Sogyō no Kotowari
by WHO2
Summary: Wars merged together, forging partnerships shrouded in mystery. Harry believed he had to fight, now he's been told to stand and wait for someone else to finish the job he was destined to fulfill. Who are the new Order members and why are they here?  UPDATE: being rewritten after long hiatus
1. Masquerade

This is just the beginning of my story. Have a go and see if you like it. Please read the AN at the bottom when you're done if you plan on reading more.

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. If I did, Butterflizen would not have planned it all and Spoony would have a bigger part in the story.

* * *

"You are Albus Dumbledore, I presume?" the kindly woman looked at Dumbledore, her eyes seemed to penetrate his very soul while still remaining motherly and warm-hearted.

"I am, but, if I may ask, who are you? I do not believe I know you," replied Dumbledore with a brief nod.

"My name is Unohana Retsu," she answered simply, "And no, we do not know each other. However, I must ask for your patience, I am here to talk to you about a very serious matter at hand."

"Then please sit," Dumbledore waved to the chair at the table. He turned to Tom, the bartender of the Leaky Cauldron, who was bringing Dumbledore a bottle of mead at his order. Dumbledore accepted it with a small word of thanks and poured Unohana and himself a glass before setting the bottle aside, "Please, continue. What did you wish to speak to me about, ma'am?"

Before Unohana began speaking, Dumbledore fingered his wand hidden deep in his sleeve, for defense of course, in case she was not as trustworthy as she may have seemed.

"We, the Gotei 13, have reason to believe your school may be in more danger than you immediately think," started Unohana solemnly. She lifted the cup from the table, took a sniff of the liquid to identify any possible poison, and took a small sip to test the taste. She did not show it, but the mead was not quite her taste, she set the glass down and continued, "This may seem hard for you to believe at the moment, but the 'Dark Lord' that has returned to your world is not truly alive. He has become a race known as Arrancar."

"This is quite the tale you are telling me," said Dumbledore. He bowed his head to look at Unohana from above his glasses, she did not seem to notice, "I, along with just about everyone else in the wizarding community, know that Voldemort is a far cry from having a human state of mind. He is a bloodthirsty killer, but it is rather difficult to believe that he is not an actual human being."

"It is difficult to understand at first," Unohana agreed, "But everything I say is the truth. I will tell you all I am permitted to say, which turns out to be a fair amount. The Gotei 13, or 13 Division Imperial Guards, is an organization of beings called Shinigami whose main duty is to protect the souls of the living from creatures called Hollows and to send Earthbound spirits to the afterlife. Hollows are creatures that evolve from the pain and sorrow in the human heart and, in order for them to fill their empty heart, they feast upon human souls regardless of whether they are dead or alive at the time."

"Those sound quite fearsome. Why haven't I heard of these monsters before? I'm quite sure something like that would appear in reports at some time or another," asked Dumbledore. He was a man who liked to read, quite a lot. He should have seen something about monsters that feed off human souls. Or were Dementors those creatures they called 'Hollows?'

"Luckily, Hollows that regularly appear on earth are weak and are easily dispatched by any within the ranks of the Gotei 13. There are, however, Hollows that grow in power and that power can exceed that off the highest officials in the Gotei 13," said Unohana. To elaborate further, she explained the menos evolution process "They leave their need for the souls of humans and quench their thirst with the flesh of other Hollows. These conglomerations of Hollows become known as Menos. Then within this class, there are three sub-classes, Gillian, Adjucas, and Vasto Lorde, each one has more and more power until you get to the extremely rare and exceedingly dangerous Vasto Lorde. To become anything more than a Gillian, who all look the same and act the same, to become more than just lumbering beasts with no conscious thought, a single entity that was once a single Hollow must remain conscious and thinking. What this single hollow was will make the Gillian different from it's comrades and it may continue the line of evolution to an Adjucas-class Menos.

"Adjucas are considerably smaller than any Gillian and are much more powerful, but they also must only eat other Adjucas to remain one themselves and have even the smallest possibility of becoming a Vasto Lorde. The Gotei 13 has estimated there are as many Vasto Lordes in existence as there are fingers on your hand."

Unohana spared a glance down to Dumbledore's thin, bony fingers resting calmly on the table, with a wand loosely gripped in one of his hands, "However, these Vasto Lorde are not violent unless provoked and do not pose any threat to earth, as they live in a realm lying between the world of the living and the afterlife, called Hueco Mundo. The problem poses itself in the Arrancar. Hollows have two distinct markings seen on every one. They have a hole on their chests to show their empty hearts and they wear white masks over their faces to conceal their past life as human spirits. Arrancar are hollows that have torn off their masks and gained powers akin to the powers of a Shinigami. Arrancar have the same natures as hollows but have rational minds, so they are much more dangerous than even an Adjucas-class Menos, which still has the mind of a beast."

"So you are telling me that Voldemort has become one of these Arrancar?" asked Dumbledore. He was skeptical, it was a wild story, but the woman seemed to be well versed in the subject. It was either an extremely well thought out and well executed lie or it was true.

"Yes, we fear so," Unohana nodded her confirmation, "The Gotei 13 is divided up into 13 divisions, each division is headed by a captain. Recently three of the captains from the Gotei 13, Aizen Sosuke, Ichimaru Gin, and Tōsen Kaname, defected from us and are now considered traitors. They left us with a means of artificially creating Arrancar stolen from one of our scientists, who was attempting to destroy the item used."

Unohana stopped talking. It was only a short time ago that the captains left for Hueco Mundo and the Arrancar started appearing. It was only yesterday that they found out about the Espada.

"Since then, they have been creating an army of Arrancar made up of only Menos. We do not have any exact numbers for Aizen's army, but we have information on their top fighters. There is an organization of sorts within the Arrancar army called the Espada. The Espada are given ranks from 1-10 based on their power, 1 being the highest and 10 the lowest. It is also unknown if there are any Vasto Lordes within the Espada, but from our evidence so far, there are none or very few," Unohana looked into Dumbledore's intrigued eyes, "The man, Voldemort, is ranked somewhere between 7 and 10. We have found traces of his reiatsu, or spiritual pressure, on earth all summer and recently the 6th Espada went on a rampage in a suburb of Tokyo, his reiatsu did not match that which we had been tracking of Voldemort and it seemed significantly stronger. The second Espada we've traced is weaker than Voldemort instead of stronger. There is a third we are suspecting to be a Vasto Lorde, but as is Vasto Lorde nature, he seems to be docile and acts simply as a spy."

"If Voldemort has become one of these Arrancar, a powerful one at that, how can we defeat him? We must learn a new fighting tactic if he isn't human or suffers from human weaknesses," asked Dumbledore. He prided in being skeptical of all things, there was always room for error and recalculation, but something was off when Voldemort first appeared, all the details of his rebirth didn't sound like something a human could perform, now that suspicion was confirmed.

"Arrancar, same as Hollows and Shinigami are fundamentally different to kill than a regular human," Unohana pulled her Zanpakuto out from underneath her captain's haori and laid it on the table, "We may be damaged by spells that you cast, but it will not kill us. In order for Hollows to be killed, you must slice off their mask with a Zanpakuto, a soul-cutter sword, and they will be purified, transformed back into their human form, and sent to the afterlife. Arrancar and Shinigami do not have these masks to slice off, so that method does not work.

"In order to kill an Arrancar or Shinigami, they must be physically unable to continue living. Shinigami and Arrancar do not age and our bodies do not get weary as do humans. You must force our hearts to be unable to beat or our lungs unable to draw in air or our blood unable to circulate through our body. You cannot simply cast that killing curse at us, we will not die from that. You must beat us down to the bone or both Arrancar and Shinigami will continue to rise and fight."

"That is not a very practical way to fight a strong wizard such as Voldemort," said Dumbledore. This would prove to be troublesome later on. If spells would not work on Voldemort now, what would they do? It was far too late to start retraining all students to fight Hollows and not a single student nor their families, to his knowledge, had ever so much as picked up a physical weapon such as a sword with knowledge of it's proper use.

"The good thing is that Voldemort is no longer a wizard, he is an Arrancar," said Unohana, "He may not be vulnerable to your magic, but he cannot use it either. The Gotei 13 has over 2,000 fully trained shinigami, Omnisukidō, a special operative group, has about five hundred more, and the Shinōreijustuin has many fine students that will soon graduate the Gotei 13 or the Omnisukidō."

"Are you trying to tell me that you will take over the war against Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore.

"Not me, but the Gotei 13. I am the captain of the 4th division, specializing in saving lives rather than taking them," replied Unohana, "If you are willing to accept help, we will send you several Shinigami to protect your school and those inside it, if it should be attacked by Arrancar. You can do as you wish with them, assigning them to simply guard posts or have them integrated into the school to monitor the safety from the inside."

"I believe your story is solid, ma'am," Dumbledore stood up, "Assistance would be greatly appreciated."

"Very well," Unohana nodded and smiled kindly, "If you have no more business with me, I will return and have the squad assembled and sent to you as soon as possible."

"I would like it that you come with me for a brief time. My organization, the Order of the Phoenix, would be more likely accept your story after hearing it firsthand rather then through my interpretation," Dumbledore requested, "I believe it would be best for someone experienced in the matter to explain to them."

"As you wish," Unohana laughed quietly, "Though I am no more experienced than you, I have never seen an Arrancar in all the time I have been a captain, which is well over 400 years. I will relay exactly what I have told you to those you trust, nonetheless."

That evening, Unohana told the same story to the skeptical ears of the Order of the Phoenix. Fred and George had been kicked out, even though they were of age, as Unohana wanted no students to know of the mission she would send her fellows on. It took a fair bit more talking to convince everyone that the Shinigami would be completely trustworthy. In the end, there was a unanimous decision to allow the Shinigami onto Hogwarts grounds in disguise as foreign professors to teach an optional class on life as a wizard in Japan.

"It was wonderful to meet you," Unohana bowed to the people standing in front of her. The act threw them off balance, it was not customary in England as it was in Japan, they believed bowing was only used hundreds of years ago, "The team will be assembled as soon as possible and they will arrive soon. For now, I must return."

The Senkaimon gate appeared directly behind her in the kitchen, it opened slowly and a pure black butterfly fluttered out, landing on the hilt of Unohana's Zanpakuto.

"Give them this, but do not let it be seen by anyone else," Dumbledore handed Unohana a slip of paper with _12 Grimmauld Place, headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix_ written in elegant, spidery script on it.

"Of course," Unohana tucked it into her robe and turned to walk through the gate. It closed the second the little black butterfly was back through the doors and slowly faded from existence. Sirius was the first to walk over and wave his hand through the place where the door once stood.

"That was an interesting conversation," he said. His face was utterly perplexed by the information he now had to digest and it seemed that he was not the only one feeling that way, either.

"I don't know about this, Albus," Mrs. Weasley had been nervous all along. She was unsure about sending a squad of undead fighters to protect students, if she was to believe the story. Unohana was kind enough, but she hadn't met a single other Shinigami and was unsure about their personalities. If she knew anything, they could be handed another set of people to match the personalities of Fred and George. Lord knows what would happen next.

"Molly, anyone who is an enemy of Voldemort is a friend of ours," Dumbledore reminded. They were fighting for the same cause, after all, the defeat of Voldemort.

"That isn't true!" Molly cried out, "For all we know, they could be even worse than You-Know-Who and just want to get rid of him to further their own plots!"

"Then why would they offer to protect us, Molly?" Dumbledore asked, "We will judge them by the squad they send and give them a chance. It is unfair to judge them before you don't even know how their society works."

"I'm just worried about Harry and my children, not to mention everyone in Hogwarts," Molly resigned herself to a chair on the table.

"I assure you, everyone will be safe as long as the professors at Hogwarts are there," with the final word said, Dumbledore swept out of Grimmauld place and was gone. The decision was final, there would be no more arguing on the matter.

* * *

Three weeks later—

Ukitake Jūshirō and Kuchiki Byakuya walked up the steps to an old, dingy house. They looked back at the tiny slip of paper from Captain Unohana several times, back at the house number, and to the sign on the street. They were more than confused. Supposedly they were supposed to guard a school and this old, run down building was most definitely not a school.

"This is the correct address," said Ukitake as he examined the deteriorating building, he couldn't quite call it a house or a home, "Did they get it wrong?"

Byakuya didn't reply.

Ukitake sighed, grabbed the ancient knocker, and knocked several times, "There's only one way to find out."

After a bit of muffled yelling inside the house that neither captain could quite make out, the door creaked open. A teenager with flaming red hair stood at the door, he didn't look too happy about answering the door and his face dropped further when he didn't recognize the people at the door.

**CRACK!**

Both Ukitake and Byakuya had their hands on their Zanpakutos at the sound, but Ukitake lowered his guard when he saw what had just happened.

"Who are you?" another of the teenagers identical to the first appeared next to him in the blink of an eye.

Byakuya seemed mildly surprised at the speed of the Shunpo that the child had just preformed. It wasn't nearly as good as his, but it was like seeing Kurosaki Ichigo suddenly knowing how to Shunpo all over again.

Ukitake looked down at the address in confusion again, "I think this is the right address."

The paper was snatched out of his hands and both the redhead twins began examining it with scrutiny. They looked from the paper and to the captains multiple times until finally Byakuya had had enough, "Let us speak to your superior."

The twins burst out in mad laughter. So much so that they were wiping tears away from their faces when one said, "You've got to be kidding me. 'Superior'? That's just too good."

Ukitake was starting to get exasperated at this point, "Is your mother or father here?"

"MUM!" they shouted in unison.

"Fred, George, I told you two to answer the door, not make me come all the way out here to—" a woman bustled out from down the hall. She froze when she saw the two men standing at the door.

"Do you know them?" one jabbed his thumb at Ukitake and Byakuya at the door.

"No, can I help you two?" she asked.

She reached down into a pocket and drew her wand. Byakuya matched the gesture by grasping the hilt of his Zanpakuto a fraction more. Ukitake grabbed his wrist to prevent him from unsheathing the weapon.

"We are here from the Gotei 13 on orders from Captain-Commander and Captain of the 1st Division Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and request of the 4th Division Captain Unohana Retsu," Ukitake answered. He pulled a letter sealed with the 1st Division's insignia and handed it to the woman, "I am Captain of the 13th Division Ukitake Jūshirō and this is the Captain of the 6th Division Kuchiki Byakuya."

The woman skimmed over the contents of the letter and eyed them nervously, "Of course, come in."

They walked into the house, it was quite dingy, but it appeared as they had been working vigorously on cleaning the place. Some spots had boxes of junk that had been tossed inside from the immense cleaning process. A few chairs and tables in the halls had been dusted and polished to their former glory. The house was quite a sight to behold. It was nothing like Byakuya's refined taste nor like his manor in the slightest but it was quite obvious that it had cost a lifetimes worth of fortune to furnish the rooms to what they were; filled to the brim with classical paintings and portraits (that moved, no less) and antique Queen Anne style furniture.

One thing that made both Ukitake and Byakuya cringe was the heads of some kind of humanoid creatures that were mounted on the wall. It was a disgusting thing to look at, just like seeing the heads of an animal on the wall, only closer to humans in appearance.

"I'm sorry about the mess," the woman murmured absently, "We're trying to clean it as best we can, the place was terrible when we first arrived."

"It's quite alright," calmly replied Ukitake. He didn't care for the house in the least but he couldn't be rude to her just because both he and Byakuya lived in large manors in Soul Society that were a fair bit cleaner than this.

They were led into the kitchen where the woman gestured for them to sit, they both remained standing. She set the letter down on the table and turned her strict attention towards the shinigami. It wasn't difficult to tell that the woman didn't completely trust them. Though it made sense, they were technically spirits trained to kill, which was quite odd to think about.

"I understand you must've had quite a long journey…" she started.

"Actually, the Senkaimon opened up just across the street… so all we've had to walk was to the gate back home and across the street…" Ukitake's voice died away when his eyes met the strict ones of the woman in front of him. She was definitely intimidating.

"Do you mind me asking how you two were chosen for this 'mission'?" she asked with a slight smile. She turned back to her cooking but still obviously wanted an answer.

"We were the only two captains who were adequate for the job," answered Byakuya.

The woman gave Byakuya a nervous glance and Ukitake took over from his explanation, "You see, the captains have rather… vivid personalities. Some would not be acceptable to send to a school to masquerade as a teacher, of all things. The only captains who could control themselves enough were the Captains of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 13th and possibly the 8th Divisions. However, the 1st Division captain must stay in Seireitei at because he is the Captain-Commander, the highest Captain of all. The 2nd Division Captain is also the commander of a special operative group called the Omnitsukidō, so she must stay in Seireitei. The Captain of the 4th Division must also stay in Seireitei because she is the head of the medical division and we are in the midst of a war. The 7th Division Captain… let's just say that he doesn't look quite human and he wouldn't be acceptable to send to the human world. The 10th Division Captain could've been sent if he was also not departing soon on another mission but he would've had to have been a student because he looks like a 12 year old human. The 8th Division Captain would've been a stand-in if either of us refused to go. So that's how we got here."

Ukitake seemed rather satisfied with his explanation, even Byakuya nodded a bit in agreement.

"What about the other Divisions?" asked the woman, she pointed to the letter, "It says here that there are 13 different ones. What about the 3rd, 5th, 9th, 11th, and 12th Divisions? Were they not acceptable to send?"

"No," simply answered Byakuya.

Once again, Ukitake elaborated on Byakuya's explanation, "Well, the 3rd Division Captain is rogue and he was a bit creepy to begin with… he always smiled and spoke with nothing but sarcasm and had his eyes closed… The 5th Division Captain would've been acceptable until he went rogue as well and revealed he was plotting to kill us all from the start and usurp to the throne, same with the 9th Division Captain. The 11th Division Captain, where to start…"

"He's an axe crazy buffoon," Byakuya answered, "And his… Lieutenant," he looked away from everyone, hiding his face from view as if he was protecting his pride, "She desecrated my manor, stole my fish, and rides her scooter through my hallways."

"That's about right. He's a little too bloodthirsty and violent for a school and if he went, that would mean his Lieutenant would have to go too and she's a bit of a disaster wrapped up in a painfully adorable six year old girl package. And I only ever think about the 12th Division Captain in my nightmares… he's a mad scientist that likes to experiment on things he finds interesting. If you were all normal humans, we'd have no qualms sending him here, but… he was quite anxious to dissect a wizard or two hundred or so…" Ukitake finished speaking. Mayuri was creepy to everyone, the only reason he was tolerated was because of his brilliant scientific mind and because there would be no way for anyone to get him back in the Maggot's nest anymore.

"Well," the woman turned around and held out her hand to Ukitake, "I am Molly Weasley, sorry if I came off as rude. I'm worried about my children's safety, since four are currently attending Hogwarts along with two of their friends whom I also consider my own children."

"Of course," Ukitake shook her hand warmly, "I have no children but I'd hate it if anything happened to my siblings."

Mrs. Weasley appeared rather confused upon hearing the word 'siblings', but shook it off quickly. Ukitake had already noticed but it was not the right time to explain everything about Soul Society.

Mrs. Weasley held out her hand to Byakuya. He looked her in the eye coldly. He did not make a move to shake her hand. Mrs. Weasley's hand curled up and fell to her side slowly, Byakuya had won.

"You two are welcome to stay for dinner in half an hour, we have everyone coming over, including Albus," she opened the door to the kitchen again and looked out, "I'm sure everyone would like to meet you," she took in a deep breath and shouted, "RON, HARRY, EVERYONE COME DOWN HERE! WE HAVE GUESTS YOU NEED TO MEET!"

The twins were the first to appear in the room, using the strange Shunpo variety. Byakuya scrutinized them silently, he wondered where they'd gotten such amazing speed.

The barrage of everyone else appeared soon after, four other children and one middle-aged man. For Byakuya and Ukitake, it was no question as to who was related to whom. There were four children with flaming hair the same color as Kurosaki Ichigo's. If Ichigo didn't have a distinctly Japanese face, they could possibly be considered siblings. The oldest children were the twins and the youngest appeared to be the redheaded girl.

Ukitake was shocked as he looked at the black-haired boy. Ichigo may have gotten his former Lieutenant's, Shiba Kaien's, face but this boy had gotten his hair and eyes. His black hair stuck out all over the place and his eyes were nearly the same shade of green. Ukitake couldn't help but smile faintly, he wondered if their personalities were similar.

"Sirius," Mrs. Weasley beconed the middle-aged man over to them, "They're the ones sent to protect Hogwarts this year."

"Ah," he smiled warmly and held out his hand, Ukitake shook it, Byakuya did not, "Sirius Black, pleased to meet you."

"Same here, Ukitake Jūshirō. This is Kuchiki Byakuya," said Ukitake.

Sirius nodded and stepped away after Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat impatiently. She glanced at the children once and back at the two captains, "Well, this is Ukitake Jūshirō and Kuchiki Byakuya from Japan," she stopped speaking to the children and then looked at Ukitake, "What do you want us to call you? I know customs are different in Japan."

"Ukitake and Kuchiki will do," answered Ukitake, "Thank you for asking, it's very rude to call someone by given name without knowing that person well or without express permission."

The other girl, with bushy brown hair, nodded as if she knew exactly what Ukitake was talking about.

"Well, introduce yourselves," said Mrs. Weasley. All the children immediately snapped to attention, "Ginny, you start."

The redheaded girl gave a mild and subtle glare towards Mrs. Weasley but introduced herself anyway, "Ginny Weasley."

"Ron Weasley," the boy beside her said.

The line continued down to the twins when one said, "I'm George, pleased to meet ya."

The other twin piped up cheerfully but with a sly glint in his eye, "And I'm Fred. I am Fred, aren't I George?"

"No, I'm George because you're Fred, Fred. You're Fred and I'm George."

"So you're Fred and I'm George, right? Or am I George and you're Fred?"

"That sounds about right, George, because I'm Fred."

Ukitake cut in before they could say anything else. He pointed to each of the children in succession, naming Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione correctly without a blink. He stopped when he reached Fred and George who were both beaming in their supposed accomplishment. Ukitake took in a deep breath and said to Fred, "I'm absolutely sure you aren't George because you're Fred and I wouldn't want to confuse George with Ron and Fred with George and George with Harry. George said that you're Fred because he was named George, not Fred. Now, George," he looked at George, "Suppose that you are Fred for once and put yourself in his shoes, you wouldn't want to be called George mistakenly because Fred is your name not George. With that logic I can effectively say that Fred and George would not lie about their identities because Fred and George do not want to be confused as George and Fred. Therefore, they were futilely trying to confuse me with saying their names too many times in one sentence. Is that right George, who is not Fred, and Fred, who is also not George?"

Fred and George could only stare, they'd been beaten in the game they had learned to master as soon as they knew each other's names. They burst into mad laughter and bounced over to Ukitake, slapping him on the back affectionately. Fred managed a sentence after he'd taken a breather, "I don't care who you are, mate, but you and I and George are going to get along real well."

Everyone but Byakuya couldn't help but grin. Ukitake knew he was at home already, this family reminded him of his own Division in a way. It might make the blow of being away from Soul Society for over a year a little less painful. They were so energetic and could cause limitless trouble in the blink of an eye. Byakuya wouldn't like it, but Ukitake had a small fondness for the chaos that he encountered. To him, it was better to move with it than to fight it, as Byakuya attempted to do often. You couldn't hope to stop the flow of a river completely, no matter how much you dam it up, it would always spill over.

"I'll pray for your life," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Don't worry," said Ukitake, smiling reassuringly, "I've had my fair share of Fred's and George's. In fact, back home, my assistants act very much like them. Sometimes I wonder if they'll ever learn to behave themselves."

"You have assistants?" interrupted Hermione, "Like house-elves? You know, I don't be—"

Ukitake bit his lower lip, thinking of a way to answer about his two bickering 3rd seats, and cut off Hermione before she could finish her thought, "I am unfamiliar with house-elves, I'm sorry. But, in a way, I do have assistants. It's nothing of importance."

"Why don't we continue the conversation in the kitchen? Arthur will be getting back soon and other Order members are coming here for dinner tonight. I've planned on dinner being in half an hour," Mrs. Weasley ushered them all into the kitchen.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione began chatting amongst themselves, Ginny helped her mother finish preparing dinner, and Fred and George seemed to be plotting something among each other. As Ginny was delivering a large bowl of mashed potatoes to the table, she picked up the abandoned letter from the Gotei 13. She glanced around the room and noticed the insignias on the backs of Byakuya's and Ukitake's robes, it was similar to the one on the letter. She knew better than to just hand it back to them, it could have something interesting and important written in it. She tucked it into her pocket and grabbed the next set of bowls and plates for the buffet-style of dinner that would be held that night.

In the moment Mrs. Weasley was distracted, she joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione casually.

"Guys, look at this," she whispered, holding it out for them to see.

"Whoa, where'd you find that, Ginny," Fred butted into the conversation, leaning over Ron's shoulder, "Those two gave that to mum when they first came here."

"It was just on the table there," Ginny stabbed her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the kitchen table now cluttered with foods of every imaginable variety.

"Well, open it up, what does it say?" asked Ron.

Ginny opened the letter like one would a Howler and when no ear-shattering noise came out of it, she began to read,

"_To whom it may concern,_

_Upon the advising of the Gotei 13 (ambassador: Captain of the 4__th__ Division, Unohana Retsu), you have agreed to accept the best protection we have to offer while under the threat of Lord Voldemort, an Arrancar in former Captain of the 5__th__ Division, Aizen Sōsuke's, army. It is within our power to take control of war efforts and eliminate an enemy we are specially trained to combat. Thus, we have come to the conclusion that, out of all the Gotei 13, Captains of the 6__th__ and 13__th__ Divisions are suitable to protect Hogwarts School of Wtichcraft and Wizardry and Harry Potter until Aizen Sōsuke, his partners (former Captain of the 3__rd__ Division, Ichimaru Gin, and former Captain of the 9__th__ Division, Tōsen Kaname), and army have all been executed. Ukitake Jūshirō and Kuchiki Byakuya ha—"_

The paper vanished out of Ginny's hands with a quiet whooshing sound. She didn't need to blink, it just vanished. Everyone else was just as amazed as she was.

"You will never utter a word of what you have just read or there will be consequences," the voice made everyone jump. They hadn't ever heard Byakuya speak before.

Slowly, they all turned around, Byakuya held the paper firmly in his grasp, was currently folding it up, and tucked it inside his robe. He flattened out his robe and swept away from them without a second glance.

* * *

**ALL IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE (really important stuff in bold): **This story takes place over the Arrancar Invasion Arc, Hueco Mundo Arc, Fake Karakura Town Arc, and possibly the Deicide Arc. I know this is a spoiler to my story but you have to know that Voldemort will be the 9th Espada, Aaroniero has been either demoted or killed (whichever you prefer). More explanation will be given to say _why_ Voldemort is 9th and not another rank. **Byakuya will not get trapped in Las Noches with the others and Ukitake will not be involved in the Fake Karakura battle** (no curbstomp battles for Wonderweis, sorry)

Recent manga chapters have thrown off my plans for this story quite a bit (stupid Bleach, I don't want to have ridiculous plot twists while I'm trying to write fanfiction), I'm not gonna say anything about it because I may choose to shrug off recent canon and switch into an alternate timeline to keep my plans intact and not have to redo the latter half of this story. Here's a quick timeline of the story corresponding with the Bleach Arcs as I've seen them play out, Arrancar Invasion takes place over the summer and ends somewhere around September when Ichigo goes to train with the Vizards for a month, he invades Hueco Mundo probably a week later and spends maybe 3-4 days there before the Captains arrive and save the day. Fake Karakura appears to only last about twenty-four hours or so, at the most, before the Deicide Arc starts and... T.T

I'm not going to make this any longer and more confusing than it needs to be, so **if you don't want to read something that turns away from the Bleach plot too much, don't read this story**.

One more thing, the narrator will always call Kuchiki Byakuya as Byakuya but in speech, nearly everyone will call him Kuchiki because of **proper Japanese manners**. My only reasoning for this is that he is called Byakuya almost solidly through the manga and because there are two Kuchikis that will be talked about, Rukia and Byakuya. If other characters like Byakuya make an appearance, i.e. Kenpachi or Ikakku, they would be called Zaraki and Madarame in speech but by given name in narration but characters like Kyōraku and Ukitake will be called by family names in both speech and text. Just think, **what are characters called commonly in the manga, given or family name? If it's their given name, they'll be called that in the text but by last name in speech and if it's family name, both speech and narration will call them by that**. The only exceptions would be characters who have separate speech patterns and call everyone by a given name or a nickname: Ichigo, Yachiru, and Kyōraku.

**NO HONORIFICS WILL BE USED!** I hate Japanese honorifics and it confuses me to constantly try to use them. They can be used condescendingly or mockingly (Ichimaru Gin), out of genuine respect (lots of characters), out of habit (lots of characters), etc. Each character uses them in different manners and uses different ones for each character they interact with. Ichigo uses none and uses given names, Byakuya calls everyone by full name, Kyōraku calls everyone by given name or a nickname and attaches a honorific to that, Gin adds honorifics to a bunch of names and creeps people out by it, etc. It's too confusing and convoluted to use effectively in this story. **The only time they have a chance of appearing is by the respectful Espada speaking to or referring to Aizen as Aizen-sama due to any translations for it sounding awkward.**

Whoo... long AN. I can give a 99% guarantee that there won't be another one this long ever again.

Anyway, please review this story, it isn't all that hard. I like constructive criticism. If you think there's something I could improve or change or if you spot issues with my grammar or something like that, please tell me. I WON'T take it badly unless it's a flame.

I hope I get this story out relatively soon.


	2. Slickrock

Good god this took me a long time to update! I'm sorry! I'm also sorry that you get a rushed, badly written chapter. I don't like it much but I didn't want to spend another eternity rewriting it, either.

All the Diagon Alley and Ron-is-a-prefect party chapters are always the same and I really didn't want to make this one the same as all the other ones out there but I didn't want to just leave it out.

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The dinner went smoothly. Ukitake and Byakuya, especially Byakuya, discovered that they had no taste for western food. Apparently everyone else thought it was quite delicious, they had ingested copious amounts of it in a very short amount of time. Both Ukitake and Byakuya ate all the food served to them, though they each had their fair share of gagging the food down, and immediately declined with fervency that they did not want any more to eat when offered seconds. Following that, there was a short meeting for the Order of the Phoenix. Ukitake and Byakuya were briefed on the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort's history, and the Prophecy. Then the meeting continued as usual, speaking about pressing issues, suspected Death Eaters, and so on. For that portion, the two shinigami stood quietly and observed. At the close of the meeting, everyone left except the shinigami. They stayed a little longer but eventually gave their own goodbyes. It had been a long day and they were ready get some rest.

"_These… _wizards_…" said Kurotsuchi Mayuri with the utmost distaste, almost loathing. He was currently sorting through the limited number of files he currently had on _wizards_, "Are all spiritually gifted. I suppose they could be like Quincies except they use their reiatsu for… remedial tasks… like cleaning or sewing. Their population is growing, though, while Quincies are down to only one. Theoretically, a Wizard could be a Quincy and vice versa because their powers have the same source, of course this all depends on which training they receive and since there is only one Quincy left…"_

"_That means they will be able to see and sense us?" asked Ukitake._

"_Most likely. They should be able to see and touch you but there is a chance that they will not be able to tell the difference between you and a powerful wizard," answered Kurotsuchi, opening up a huge file on Quincy reiatsu and scanning through it, "They have never been trained in the ability to sense different reiastu levels or see reiatsu threads like Quincies… they shouldn't be able to tell the difference unless you are required to release the limits on your reiatsu."_

_Ukitake nodded slowly. He was lost in thought. It had been so long since he'd seen a Quincy. Of course Ishida was the last Quincy when he invaded in the spring, but that was somewhat inconsequential. It had been hundreds of years since he'd been in a fight with a Quincy and he hadn't the slightest idea how their powers worked anymore, a wizard would be no doubt any different. Captain Unohana was the next to speak._

"_Is there any way that the way they use reiatsu can harm us or an Arrancar?"_

_Captain Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow and pondered the question silently to himself. Then, he typed something into his computer system, two documents appeared on the screen. One was an extensive paper on Quincy bows while the other was a one or two sentence paragraph on how wizards channel their reiatsu. He pursed his lips together at the little information on wizards, it was mocking him, rearing it's ugly head and spitting in his face. He needed more information, much more information._

"_I can gather that since wizards use reiatsu for a variety of things, I don't think many, if any at all, can form a tangible object out of reiatsu," Ukitake and Unohana had mildly confused looks on their faces, Kurotsuchi sighed angrily and elaborated, "Quincy bows are solid objects made of solid reiatsu. It is of the same compositions as the buildings and souls in Soul Society. I can make a guess that when these wizards use their reiatsu for everything but fighting Hollows and Shinigami that they simply send out pulses of it. You should know very well that reiatsu pulses are an intimidation tactic, not proper combat. If this is how wizards use reiatsu, the very most powerful could do little more than stun us for a moment, but it would be very useful against each other. We can expect that since Quincies waste their entire lives on the bows, wizards could do very little damage in comparison. "_

"_What is Kidō and a Hollow's cero, then?" asked Unohana, "Neither of those are tangible, either, simply blasts of energy."_

"_Yes, but what human can use Kidō? Even a lowly Shinigami is more powerful than the majority of spiritually gifted humans. I think it's preposterous to say that any wizard could send out a pulse of their reiatsu strong enough and concentrated enough to even get close to mimicking the weakest Kidō," he said in return. A smirk grew across his face slowly, "But, won't it be interesting to find out if that's so?"_

_There was a short silence, though it seemed to drag out for an eternity. Captain Kurotsuchi had a horrifying sense of humor sometimes, thinking it would be simply "interesting" to see if a wizard could hurt a Shinigami. Ukitake sent a sideways glance at Unohana, who pretended not to notice, instead, she focused on Kurotsuchi._

"_Thank you, Captain," she smiled and nodded to Kurotsuchi before leaving the laboratory with swift and graceful steps, "I have to relay this information to Albus Dumbledore."_

_Kurotsuchi cocked his head curiously, "That's the human we're supposed to protect from the Arrancar?"_

"_So I've heard," said Ukitake in a low voice, "And I'm the one that has to go there if this all works out."_

They had been told by the Weasleys to stay at a place called the Leaky Cauldron until the start of the school year on September 1st. They had both been horrified when they stepped into the dusty pub that smelled faintly of mold and had unsightly watermarks on the ceiling but ended being pleasantly surprised when they got their rooms. The rooms, unlike the rest of the pub, were in excellent condition. Nothing compared to Ugendō, the Kuchiki manor, or anything in Seireitei, for that matter, but it was a huge leap above the pub itself and 12 Grimmauld Place. In all honesty, Ukitake was quite excited about going to Hogwarts. He could whittle away days just wandering around the two alleys behind the Leaky Cauldron, he could hardly imagine what an entire boarding school filled to the brim with the same oddities found in Diagon and Knockturn Alley would be like.

Sadly, he was kept penned inside a place called Flourish and Blotts by Byakuya. They were expected to become teachers in a world they had only heard about in passing gossip, they had to do research. Luckily, they'd gotten a letter from the man who asked them to come here in the first place, Albus Dumbledore. In that letter it was explained in more depth as to what they would be teaching. Before that point, all they knew was from Unohana, who said that they would have aliases as false teachers to ward unwanted attention away from them. Now, they knew what they were doing in specific detail.

Thankfully, they were meant to teach an optional class, not any of the core curriculum. Something simple enough, they did have to do a fair bit of research just to make sure they could at least attempt to teach the subject properly. It didn't matter much that they might become laughing stocks of the school as they blundered over the material, as long as the mission was a success, nothing else mattered.

The start of term was in just two days, the opening feast was in just one. Not a word from anyone since the first day they left Soul Society, not from the Gotei 13, not from the Order of the Phoenix. Ukitake was unsurprised about having no contact with anyone from the Gotei 13, they were on a long-term mission in a time of war, frequent contact was not needed unless there was an emergency on either side. Captain Hitsugaya had left for his mission in Karakura town as well, gathering what Ukitake believed to be much more important information than what he'd been reading for the last few weeks.

It was a bit lonely, being all alone in the world shinigami had never had any interaction with other than standard procedure. Technically, Ukitake wasn't alone but Byakuya was a man of very few words. He didn't like to speak and it seemed that he didn't like to be spoken to outside of formal situations.

There was a sharp knock on the door. Ukitake quickly moved across the room to answer it.

"Oh, hello," said Ukitake when he unexpectedly found Mrs. Weasley standing at the door.

"Good morning," she said in return. She glanced down the hall both ways, she looked like she was in quite anxious about something.

"Is something wrong?" asked Ukitake.

"Just in a hurry, I have to get all the school supplies for the children today," she answered quickly.

Ukitake blinked a few times, "Do you need any help with that? I have plenty of free time on my hands if I can get away from Captain Kuchiki."

"No, I figured that _you_ were the ones needing help. Have you actually prepared for going to Hogwarts at all?"

"Well, we've researched a fair amount about what we are supposed to be researching and we can speak more than enough languages to effectively communicate with all the students in the school," said Ukitake. He shrugged a bit, he wasn't quite sure what else he was supposed to be doing.

"Do you own wizard robes? You can't go to Hogwarts wearing muggle clothes," she glanced at his shinigami captain's uniform which would hardly be accepted in the regular British wizarding world. Before Ukitake could think up an excuse as to why he did not buy anything, she continued questioning him, "Or have you got so much as a wand? I doubt you will have to use it but you at least have to own one to go to Hogwarts."

"I see you have a point, I have done neither of those things," said Ukitake. The thought had apparently never struck his mind once since they had arrived on earth. A wand might be a good thing to have, even if it was only for a year at the very most.

"Then we have a lot of work to do today."

Ukitake had to agree. He pointed down the hall to the left, "Kuchiki's room is three doors down on the same side, I will be out in a moment."

He stepped back into the room, slipped his Zanpakuto into his obi, and maneuvered it around until it was completely invisible underneath his white haori. It wouldn't hurt to be safe. He wasn't a targeted person but Mrs. Weasley was a strong possibility for her affiliation with the Order. Better safe than sorry even though he knew that the Death Eaters were attempting to keep a low profile for the time.

By the time he was absolutely sure his Zanpakuto would not be seen unless a tornado blew down Diagon Alley and ripped his haori off, Mrs. Weasley and Byakuya were already waiting just outside his door.

"Sorry for making you wait," said Ukitake apologetically.

"We were hardly waiting." Mrs. Weasley beckoned the two captains down the hall, "If you two can help me pick up everything for the children first, we can use the rest of the time to get what you've forgotten about."

There wasn't much for Mrs. Weasley to get for her three children and two surrogate children. It ended up being a large stack of heavy textbooks and a few miscellaneous potion ingredients. Once those things were stacked sky high in Ukitake's and Byakuya's arms, she stopped in front of the broomstick shop. It was a few minutes before she even made any movement other than pursing her lips.

"Is something wrong?" asked Ukitake.

Mrs. Weasley glanced away from the window displaying the Nimbus 2000, 2001 and a Firebolt, the current three fastest brooms in the world. She shook her head and muttered a few quick words to herself, "No, let's go get your things now."

"Yes, of course," Ukitake shifted dozen or so textbooks in his arms around, "Do you mind if we put these books down, though? We can use my room to hold them. I'm afraid they're a bit awkward to carry around."

"Of course, why don't you go put the books down and then meet me back here?"

Ukitake and Byakuya set off back towards the Leaky Cauldron which was a bit more difficult than one would assume. They had to navagate their way through rivers of excited students and their exhausted parents and random street venders attempting to sell them wallets that turned a potential burglar's hands purple and started shrieking when it was by the purple handed potential burglar but it appeared that it simply started shrieking at the smallest touches and turned everything it touched purple. They fought their way through the packed bar, up the stairs, and into the deserted halls of the inn. They both took a moment to catch their breath before diving back into the sea.

"Hey, watch where you're going, kid!"

Ukitake turned towards the rude voice. He caught a glimpse of a young boy no older than Fred and George with white-blonde hair wearing fine clothes shoving some younger kids away from him. Who looked like his father was giving off the same air as his son stood nearby. If this child was a Hogwarts student, he was no doubt the school bully, Ukitake might have to watch out for the other students throughout the year from more than the Arrancar.

They fought their way back to the broom shop and saw Mrs. Weasley exiting with a long package wrapped in brown paper and tied up with twine.

"You bought a new broomstick?"

Mrs. Weasley looked down at the broom in surprise, almost as if she hadn't realized she bought it, "Yes, Ron became a school prefect this year and we bought Charlie, Bill, and… Percy a gift for becoming one. Ron had been asking for a new broom."

"What do we need to buy first?"

"I believe wizard robes would do you some good. It gets very cold in the winter and what you are wearing now won't be nearly enough."

So they set off for Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Surprisingly, the shop had very few people inside. The lack of people was quickly explained by Mrs. Weasley, who said that all that was needed were measurements, there was only a short amount of time one was required to be inside the shop. This turned out to be quite true, they were in the store for no more than thirty minutes total and told to come back in an hour to pick up their finished winter robes.

"I suppose the only thing that you need is a wand, for formality's sake of course," said Mrs. Weasley once the door to Madam Malkin's closed with a small tinkle from the bell attached to the door, "Oh, I almost forgot, you're invited to dinner with us again tonight. We're throwing a bit of a party for Ron and Hermione making prefect status."

"We'd love to go." Ukitake offered her a small smile.

They stopped in front of Ollivander's Wand Shop. The building itself had an air of mystery about it, both Ukitake and Byakuya could feel the magic emanating from it in a similar way to reiatsu.

"'Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C.'…" Ukitake trailed off as he finished reading the old golden letters above the door of the shop, then started chuckling quietly, "Reading that makes me feel old."

After all, the shop was nearly as old as he was. He didn't know the corresponding year on earth when he was born in Soul Society, it slipped his mind several hundred years ago, but he knew that he was among the first hundred or so classes to graduate from Shinōreijutsuin, which was founded some 2,000 years ago and he was at least several hundred years old when he entered it… He cleared his mind, it was better not to think of things in terms of human time, it just made everything seem so long when you compare your life to a being who has dozens of generations in the time it takes for one to be produced in Seireitei.

"No point standing here, let's go in." Mrs. Weasley opened up the door to the shop and entered alongside the shinigami captains.

The inside of the shop was lined ceiling high with thousands of small boxes each numbered differently and organized in such a way that no one without years of experience could locate what they needed. The sense similar to reiatsu had also intensified doubly, but now it was almost uncomfortable to stay in the shop for too long, it felt like too humid air. Maybe just the fundamentals of magic and reiryoku were the same but the way they were emitted and used was different.

"Ah, Molly Weasley, it's been a while since I've last seen you," a little man popped out from behind a tall shelf stacked with the small boxes, "How are the children? Not another one on the way to school?"

"Oh, no, we've got plenty of children, and every one of them is doing just fine, thank you," answered Mrs. Weasley, "I do have a bit of a challenge for you, Mr. Ollivander," the man's eyes lit up a bit in excitement, "I have two friends from Japan and on their way here they got into a bit of an… accident and their wands broke. I'm hoping that you can find good new wands for them."

"Of course, of course, it'll be just as simple as snapping my fingers," he snapped his fingers along with his words and a little tape measure zoomed into his hand.

The tape measure flew out of his hands again and automatically started to measure the width of Byakuya's eyes, before moving on to the length of his hair, then attempting to push the kenseikan off the top of his head. Byakuya swatted the thing to the ground the second it touched the kenseikan, he was weary of it in the first place.

"Be careful with that now," Mr. Ollivander said as he picked the tape measure off the ground, "It likes to bite when people are less than kind to it," he set it down on one of the shelves, never taking his eyes off Byakuya, "But… I think it will forgive you if I may have a look at this…" Byakuya couldn't stop the man in time from pulling Senbonzakura from it's sheath.

"Magnificent," he said. He ran his old bony fingers along the back of the blade, "Not goblin-made, is it? Much rarer than that—"

"Give it back, now," said Byakuya in one of the most commanding and dangerous voices he could muster. A Zanpakutō was sacred to every Shinigami and _no one_ but the shinigami who it belonged to was aloud to touch it without both express permission and an impossibly close and intimate relationship with the one who would touch it. A Zanpakutō was connected to the deepest parts of the soul and touching, let alone stealing one, was one of the worst personal offences someone could commit.

"Wow," said Mr. Olivander in a low whisper as if he had never heard Byakuya's order, "This is truly divine… I can't begin to imagine how much this cost, it's made out of solid reishi… very rare indeed."

Byakuya stepped forward and held his palm out parallel to the wall, gripped his wrist with his other hand, and began chanting, "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings…" a glowing ball of red fire started forming in his hand, it was sucking in the heat and energy from around the room, charging. Byakuya's voice raised in volume, "Ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium…"

Ukitake stepped in front of Byakuya, drawing his own Zanpakutō and shouting it's Shikai command. They finished simultaneously and Ukitake caught the Hadō in his Zanpakutō and released it into the ceiling of the store. He switched his Zanpakutō into one hand, spun around, and grabbed Mr. Ollivander's wrist.

"That is enough," he said slowly, simply, so Mr. Ollivander had to obey, "Drop it now."

The sword clattered to the floor. Ukitake bowed his head and stepped away, holding Mr. Ollivander back as well to protect him this time.

"It's yours Captain, retrieve it and let's leave."

Byakuya walked forward silently, picked Senbonzakura up off the ground, and slipped it back underneath his haori. He stepped out of the shop quickly, brushing past a small first year who was trying to squeeze in the small space.

Ukitake took a deep breath and released Mr. Ollivander, "I'm sorry. I don't know how you knew what his Zanpakutō was or even how you know about reishi but if you want to stay safe, do not ever touch a Zanpakutō. I will not spill every secret but that one of these," Ukitake held up his sword, now in it's sealed state, "Is a sacred object and it is the worst personal insult to touch it and very few of us are known for our patience. I saved your life this once but I cannot promise I will be here again."

"I do apologize, I've never seen anything like it before. I've been around wands my entire life, I can feel when something is special," replied Mr. Ollivander.

"I do have one question, however," said Ukitake, "How do you know about reishi?"

"I've only seen it once in my life before now," an expression similar to looking upon a god appeared on Mr. Ollivander's face as he remembered something from a long time ago, "It's a legendary wand core… my father made one 100 years ago. I wished to continue his work with the core but the wand vanished when he died… I've been looking for it ever since."

"Fascinating," said Ukitake, "I warn you, however. Keep everything you know about reishi a complete secret for the next few years, it could cause you quite a bit of trouble."

Ukitake jogged past Mrs. Weasley and the little first-year student, out the store, and after Byakuya. He racked his memory all the while. 100 years ago… 100 years ago… what happened 100 years ago… Of course! That was when Urahara and so many other captains and lieutenants vanished. It would make sense that reiatsu was going nuts on earth, enough for a particularly clever wizard to find some that forced itself into material form. Reiatsu also vanished when it's owner died, that explained why the wand was gone, too.

Luckily, he didn't have to look too hard for Byakuya, he hadn't gotten far. Ukitake grabbed Byakuya's haori and yanked him backwards before ducking into a shadowy corner of the street with him.

"You tried to kill him," said Ukitake, "Why? You know we're undercover here. Kuchiki, don't forget that you aren't known here and people won't automatically know everything about our home and about _you_."

"You would have acted the same if you were in my position," said Byakuya. He started to walk away and was immediately pulled back.

"To say the truth, I don't know how I would've acted," said Ukitake sternly, "But I would've tried to act with more common sense. Remember this now because this is the only time I will tell you, I am the one in charge of this mission and I requested you to come because I believed you would be suitable to take my place if I became ill and could not complete the mission, that means that I have the power to send you back and ask for a replacement. That would do absolutely no good for your reputation. I do not want to send you back but if you do anything to jeopardize the mission during our stay at the school I will have no choice."

Ukitake stepped away from Byakuya and his face lightened, it was highly unusual for him to become angry, "I'm sorry."

"There is no need to apologize. I acted… inappropriately," replied Byakuya.

"Come with me."

Ukitake waved Byakuya down the street, in the opposite direction of the wand shop. Hesitantly, Byakuya followed him down the street. They came back to the door of the Leaky Cauldron and entered the crowded pub. Ukitake spent a moment wandering around before he snagged a table far from either the entrance to Diagon Alley and onto the street.

"Sit, I will be back in a moment."

He made sure that Byakuya sat down at the table before walking to the bar. Neither of them were big drinkers but Ukitake admitted that having one or two every once and a while helped clear his mind when he was stressed, or when something went wrong.

"What can I get for you?" said the old bartender gruffly.

"Do happen to have any sake here? If not, get something you'd recommend."

The bartender nodded and vanished into the back room. Ukitake leaned against the bar and hung his head.

"I see you are not from London."

Ukitake looked up, it was a pale man with pointed features and light, graying hair. The same one he'd seen tailing the young boy bullying other Hogwarts students earlier today. He had an arrogant expression on his face and the way he held himself gave one the feeling of being of less importance than him.

"I am not from London, how could you tell?" asked Ukitake, forcing his voice to be pleasant and not grow cold or serious, as if he could sense nothing wrong with the man.

"What you are wearing, for one. No sensible wizard from London wears those clothes if they walk around with Muggles."

"I don't see you blending in with the common people, either." Ukitake glanced down at the man's clothes. They were very fine indeed, a sign of excessive wealth. He wore a fine cut suit, all black, but the suit appeared to be of mid 19th century in style and, to top it all off, he carried a walking stick with a snake head emblazoned with sapphire eyes for a handle.

The man's face tensed a bit, he had something on the tip of his tongue that he wanted to say, but he was holding it back, for political reasons. He was trying to earn points with people he deemed worthy, "I also noticed your accent, I believe I can hear a faint bit of Japanese?"

"Yes, that is my primary language but not where I am from," said Ukitake, "I know that would be your very next question."

"Very acute of you. Do I have the right to ask where you are from?"

"Here you go, sir. I had to dig around a bit but it was there. That'll be fourteen sickles and two knuts for the whole bottle and twelve knuts for a glass." the bartende slid an old porcelain bottle and a glass across the counter to Ukitake.

Ukitake pulled a Galleon out of his robe and handed to the man in exchange for the entire bottle, as it turned out after a very long list from trading Kan into Yen and then into Pounds and then into Galleons, wizarding currency had a very low conversion rate to Kan, the currency of Soul Society, and it was no burden to overpay someone here, "Thank you, keep the change. And may I have another glass?"

Ukitake grabbed the extra glass the bartender gave him and nodded to the man in the black suit, "Thank you for the conversation, I have to get back to my friend, I left him waiting."

"There you are, Ukitake," Mrs. Weasley pushed her way through the people and took a deep breath when she came face to face with Uktiake, "I thought I'd lost you back there. I need to know exactly what ha—"

"Well, well, what a coincidence seeing you here, Molly Weasley," said the man with a snide tone to his voice. He glanced at Ukitake, "I should say that you are associating yourself with the wrong people."

Ukitake stopped Mrs. Weasley from getting confrontational, "Well then I should say to you that I am here for work, not personal relationships, the Weasleys happened to be the first ones to help me in a bit of a tough spot when I first arrived. I am thankful to them, and that is none of your business."

"I should hope that you choose not to be around blood traitors such as these in the future," he replied contemptibly.

Ukitake closed his eyes for a moment and thought up a peaceable reply that could end the conversation there and then, "I can see you are a proud man and a very wealthy one as well, descending from a fine family. I can relate to you in that way, my family name is something I must uphold in high standing because of being born the oldest child of now deceased parents but where I differ from you is that because I am considered a noble at home, I do not think my blood makes me better than anyone else. Actions prove if you are better than others, not a name. You would do well if you learned that."

Ukitake left the man behind and headed for the table he'd left Byakuya sitting at. He felt Mrs. Weasley bustling alongside him.

He gave a low whistle, "He reminds me a bit too much of how Kuchiki used to be."

"Don't tell me he is like that despicable man, Ukitake," said Mrs. Weasley with a deep sigh.

"No, no. Don't tell him I said this but Kuchiki tends to go through phases. He had a strong rebellious and wild phase a long time ago and up until the last year he was a real stick in the mud with a nasty temper. He's a good person at heart but I personally believe he isn't the right person for everything that's been shoved on him but he's done a very good job through it all, considering…"

"Considering… what?"

"It's not my place to say, it's very personal. He never talks about and the only reason I know is because I've been around since before his grandfather was born and witnessed everything. I will talk to you about what happened in the shop later, it will take a while to explain and right now my top priority is keeping Kuchiki from doing something else a bit more damaging. He's a good man, don't worry about him at all. He's always kept a certain space between his work and personal issues, this job will be no different."

Ukitake set the bottle down on the table and produced the key to his room, "If you wish to get the books, this is the key to my room," he lowered his voice a bit, "I still plan on going to your dinner party even if I can't get Kuchiki to go, I will speak to you then. Oh, and leave the key up in the room, I have nothing of worth to steal up there."

Mrs. Weasley nodded and rushed off, leaving Ukitake and Byakuya alone. Ukitake uncorked the bottle and poured out some of the contents and handed it to Byakuya, "Drink."

"Why?" said Byakuya.

"Because even just a little bit will get rid of stress. I know you aren't a drinker but I admit that when I do have a chance, drinking can help ease my mind," replied Ukitake before he took a sip out of his own glass.

"I do not wish to sink to the level of your friend, Captain Kyōraku."

Ukitake nearly spit out his drink. Had Byakuya never had any alcohol before? "I promise there is a very large gap between drinking like this and being Shunsui, even he'll admit that he's a drunkard. Having a few glasses won't do that. And if you end up as an alcoholic, I will personally see to it that your sister burns all traces of it in your house and in the barracks. Besides, this one bottle isn't nearly enough for the both of us to get drunk, maybe me if I drank the whole thing but I get drunk far too easily."

It took a bit of smooth-talking to get Byakuya to finally drink but the miracle did occur and by the time the bottle was gone an hour later, he seemed much more relaxed (by his normal demeanor's standards) and Ukitake was happily tipsy. Ukitake had the feeling that this would not be the last time he would see Byakuya have a glass or two of alcohol, in this year or in the future.

"Now, was this such a bad idea?"

"If I have any more it will be," answered Byakuya.

"Then you are in luck, we're all out," said Ukitake. He pushed his empty glass away, "Listen, do you want to go to this dinner party or not? I promised I would explain what happened back in the wand shop then so I am obligated to go but I don't know if you should go."

"I am fine, I will go," he said. It sounded a bit staged, he most definitely wasn't fine. He wasn't traumatized or anything like that but Byakuya's temper was lit, it was only a matter of time before he exploded.

"No, actually. I don't think you should go." Ukitake sat up straight in his seat, he was sure of himself now, "I think you could handle company as well as you normally do but questions? They'll ask you about it no doubt. I don't want to have to explain two mishaps on your part to them."

"I see, very well."

With that said, Byakuya stood up and immediately left the pub, disappearing up the narrow flight of stairs to the inn above. Ukitake sank back down into his seat. Had he somehow been offensive? That's possible considering his low tolerance for alcohol and Byakuya's mood. One thing stacked on another. If nothing else, Ukitake was glad he'd now basically ordered Byakuya not to go to the party. Walking out suddenly was something that he didn't want to have to explain. He didn't know if he even could explain it. There was no nobility in wizarding England… certain traits had almost been bred into the Kuchiki family and their insistency to keep up their family name. It wasn't something that even he really understood, coming from a lower noble family. He felt no compulsive need to be arrogant if one word someone said rubbed him the wrong way. Then again, he wasn't a person easily angered or annoyed. After living with and caring for seven younger siblings, he has learned to tolerate a lot of things.

He sat in the chair for a while, thinking a bit too hard. He probably shouldn't have had alcohol. It normally isn't too hard to figure out if he's insulted someone. Evenutally, he stood up through the last dregs of people doing school shopping and entered Diagon Alley again. He had to at least pick up the winter clothes they'd bought. There was no such thing as winter in Seireitei and being cold would be a bit traumatic if they didn't have something warmer to wear during the winter months.

* * *

Ukitake knocked on the large doors of Grimmauld Place. The first thing he heard before the tumblers inside the door even started moving was bloodcurdling shrieks. What was going on in there? The door opened slowly. Four people were struggling to close giant curtains to a picture of a screaming woman shouting every wizarding profanity that came to her lips. Something about mudbloods, blood traitors, and then something about Hellbringers…

"I'm sorry," Sirius said from across the room after the curtains were pulled shut, "We've been trying to get rid of her all summer but she's been stuck to the wall with a Permanent Sticking Charm."

Ukitake scratched his head and muttered, "Hellbringer… that's one I've never heard before…"

"She was talking about you then?" he said, dumbfounded, "You? A Hellbringer? Somehow I don't see that."

"In a way I can be," Ukitake shrugged and closed the door quietly behind him, "I can open the gates to Hell… but I don't want to. Ever."

"Let's lighten the conversation, are you hungry at all?" Sirius led Ukitake into the kitchen where thirty or so people had gathered to celebrate Ron and Hermione becoming a prefect, "How does that work? No offence, but how can someone like you every be hungry? Aren't you…"

Sirius didn't have to finish the sentence for Ukitake to understand what he was saying.

"It's complicated but in short, I'm actually not dead, I was never living. Few others are like me, maybe a hundred or so that are shinigami. But having any trace of hunger in the afterlife means that you have spiritual power," explained Ukitake, "When you go there… when everyone here goes there you'll all be hungry. All wizards are spiritually gifted based on the extent of our knowledge and assumptions."

"Well, when I kick the bucket, I'm sure you'll be there to explain everything to me," said Sirius light-heartedly.

Ukitake didn't want to ruin his mood by saying that it wasn't possible. Most likely he was never going to see Sirius in the Rukongai and only a very elite few are allowed into the Gotei 13 in comparison to the numbers in Rukongai and Seireitei. There was always that possibility but it was not at all probable that they would see each other beyond this one year.

"Maybe, but I think you're underestimating the number of shinigami out there. I'm one in several thousand."

Ukitake laughed when a strange expression appeared on his face, something between shock and amusement at picturing thousands of kimono-wearing, eccentric maniacs wielding supernatural swords. It was a funny thing and an intimidating thing to picture all at once.

"I'll tell you, though, that being a shinigami isn't all that it's cracked up to be. It's a rough life. It's a death sentence to join our ranks, the vast majority of us are retired by death, not choice." Ukitake frowned, "Oh… this is not something good to talk about at a happy time. But, I can think of an upside to living as a shinigami, room and board is completely free! You get complimentary meals in the division barracks and great company and entertainment!"

Sirius had an incredulous look on his face.

"What?" Ukitake shrugged and laughed, "Part of my job is to recruit people to the Gotei 13. I have to make it sound as appealing as possible."

"You're a strange man, Ukitake," Sirius laughed alongside the shinigami.

"Well, being in places like these actually makes me realize for once that I am, by definition, human. I've been in Soul Society since I was promoted to Captain of the 13th Division so I've been trapped in a never ending war for centuries knowing that I'm sending many of my subordinates to their deaths. I think being away from it all for a while might do me some good… I hope it will, at least," Sirius grabbed two crystal goblets filled with a fine red wine found in the cellar and offered one to Ukitake, who took it and set it back on the counter, "Sorry."

"You don't drink?" asked Sirius.

"I do, but I've already had too much today, especially since I am on-duty right now," said Ukitake.

The party was beginning to pick up now, there were about 20 or so Order members, the Weasley children, and Harry and Hermione. Ukitake didn't feel the need to socialize much throughout the party. He smiled at people and spoke if spoken to but he mainly sat at the table and watched quietly. His main purpose for being there at this point was to speak to Mrs. Weasley about what happened in Ollivander's but she had been too busy to pull him aside to have a fairly long private conversation. It was about an hour and a half until Mrs. Weasley made eye contact with him and said silently to follow her out the door. The party was diminishing slightly at this point and everyone had been happily fed, though Ukitake didn't choose to eat much at all.

"I think we've finally gotten a minute to speak," she closed the kitchen door behind them and turned her stern gaze on him, "I need to know what happened."

"This is not an easy thing to explain. I can tell you what happened and how it happened in a few short words but I can see what you want to know is _why_," said Ukitake. He lifted his whole Zanpakuto out from it's concealed place in his Haori, "Every Shinigami is given a sword when they first enter the academy. It's our main way of combat, you should know that."

Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"When we first receive them they might as well be just a regular sword but the longer we have them, the more connected they come with us. They bind with our energy and literally become a part of us. It usually takes decades for the blank sword to bond with it's owner. I know this is difficult to comprehend but it is a living entity once it has bonded with us, it feels just as much as I do. In a way, it is like a wand for a wizard. Do you feel a personal connection with your wand?"

"I've had it since I was 11. Of course I wouldn't want anything to happen to it," she said after a short moment.

"It's like that but on a much deeper level. A Zanpakutō is both it's own being and a part of myself. I am not sure how to explain it," Ukitake looked down at his Zanpakutō in his hands, "How Kuchiki reacted to Mr. Ollivander was not completely uncalled for. If someone, anyone, were to touch a Zanpakutō that is not their own, it is one of the deepest-rooted personal insults. This idea has been set in stone in our culture for millennia, centuries before most of us were born. For people not in our world, it's impossible to comprehend exactly what the relationship between a Shinigami and his Zanpakutō is and it varies for everyone. If I may tell you the truth, I don't know how I would have reacted had it been my Zanpakutō that Ollivander stole. I am not nearly as confrontational or aggressive as Kuchiki but anyone in Seireitei can tell you that I am not peaceable when something goes askew. I cannot promise I would not have done nearly the same thing."

"After what happened, I'm not sure if it is a good idea to have you guarding the school, if something that small happens and you end up trying to murder the one who did it," said Mrs. Weasley.

"That was no small incident," said Ukitake, "For either party. Kuchiki reacted harshly because what happened was extreme. I don't expect you to understand it completely but you need to accept it. We have a stricter set of social conduct than you do and it won't change. I will say that Kuchiki has a temper and he reacted according to his nature and how he was raised to act. Even so, I know that he will not jeopardize this mission and the safety of the school because of his temper, above it all he follows all the rules even if he knows they are wrong. He's refused to bend the rules even though great personal loss would occur if he did not. The rules for this mission are to protect the living from Arrancar and because one of the more powerful Arrancar is targeting Harry Potter and Hogwarts, we must protect it. We are unsure how this year will play out because Voldemort could be killed in the Winter War when he is forced into battle. This whole year could be uneventful but everything could go wrong in the blink of an eye. We can't risk letting anything sway us this year, the school will be safe if it costs us our lives."

"You must be dedicated," she said with a small shake of her head.

Ukitake felt no good would come out of his answer. He was not dedicated to this mission. It was his job but this one in particular was hard to connect to. He had no relationship to the living, he never had one. He'd do anything to protect his family and his comrades whom he'd known for years upon years but through all the vows and moral reasons he should be protecting a school full of children from soul-eating monsters, he couldn't find any personal reason why he should be there. Was that how he'd always been on missions? It had been so long since he'd been stationed on earth that he couldn't clearly remember. Maybe he was too concerned for the well-being of his family and friends from Aizen and the rest of the Espada to worry about faceless masses under his wing. Once again, it was his job. He would believe that Soul Society could handle itself and he could do his work.

"Thank you for explaining," said Mrs. Weasley, "I should give you another chance. You do seem like a very kind man."

"I would appreciate another chance, we've gotten off on the wrong foot here. We'll get everything together soon," Ukitake smiled a bit but it didn't quite reach his eyes, "If you don't mind, I am exhausted and I believe tomorrow will be no different, I would like to return to the Leaky Cauldron and get a bit of rest."

"Of course, you don't have to ask permission to leave," said Mrs. Weasley, "Feel free to go when you wish."

"Another strange quirk of my culture, you must ask permission of nearly everything when in another's home," said Ukitake. He nodded politely to her, "Thank you for your hospitality. I hope the next time we see each other we can be on better terms."

"I hope so, too. Oh, and I should remind you that you have a Hogwarts Professor coming to the Leaky Cauldron at eight tomorrow morning to take you directly to the school from there."

"I shall remember that, thank you."

He exchanged short, curt goodbyes to several other people on his way out. Within the hour, he was back at the Leaky Cauldron, falling sound asleep on his bed. Tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, the mission was not about to get any easier from here on out, it hadn't even started yet.

* * *

Because I wrote this mostly at midnight so I don't know if my grammar will be all that great... and I know for a fact that I couldn't get characterizations quite right.

I also have to give a shout-out to everyone who reviewed/faved/alert-ed! I love you all. I will really try to reply to all my reviewers but I got confused and couldn't remember who I had replied to and who I hadn't.

Even the people who just read my story and didn't do anything, thank you! You spent time reading something in a few minutes time that you could've spent doing something else! I thank you for that!

P.S. Watch Dexter! It's the greatest show on earth! (but watch out for lots of blood, sex, alcohol, swearing, blood, violence, blood etc.)


	3. Status Update: June 10, 2012

Oh dear, it's been over a year and a half since I updated this story and I can't come back with some wonder-chapter to make up for my lack of ever updating this.

If any of you guys still care, I'm sorry, I really am. Shit happens in life and I really just couldn't write for a while and then, well, Bleach got bad in my mind. I haven't read a new chapter in the manga since the Fullbring Arc started, and I only just barely forced myself through the rest of the Winter War and Aizen's bullshit.

I lost my faith in the series and, looking back, I probably shouldn't have started this story in the first place because I was already having a bit of a falling-out with the series when I started it.

However, all hope is not lost, I recently stumbled across a few VERY good Harry Potter/Bleach crossovers and I think I got my inspiration back for this story. I can't make any promises so far but there's a reason I like fanfiction, it can be better than the source material.

I will be rewriting it with a major plot overhaul that hopefully fills in all the holes I see right now. I will probably publish it under my new account (xiphus) by the end of the summer. I am currently working on a story for the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but as soon as I get into the flow of that story, I will begin working with the rewrite.

Again, if any of you still care, I do apologize for just dropping off the face of the earth for a while.


	4. Status Update 2: August 27, 2012

Hey, guys, here I am again with an against-the-rules Author's Note update.

It's the end of the summer and... I don't have the rewrite ready to publish like I had originally hoped.

I'll make this brief for you, since I have had to write this three times thanks to computer issues I will attend to momentarily. My Elder Scrolls story, Sacrilege, butts heads with the rewrite of this story. Sacrilege takes active effort and thought for me to write and that's why I love it, it poses a challenge. The rewrite, however, is easy and I could write it in my sleep and I love it for that. I can't seem to work out how to do both at once. The drastically different tones of each story bleed together, making Sacrilege-a story voiced by an arrogant intellectual-sound dumbed-down and the rewrite-a story that has very few characters like that-sound extremely jaded and out of character.

I don't want that for either story. Characterization is your friend, dear readers.

Either way, Sacrilege wins out for the simple fact that it was started sooner than the rewrite and deserves first dibs on my attention. For the sake of both stories, I need to write more and nearly finish Sacrilege before I devote my time and attention to making this story's rewrite the best it possibly can be.

On the note of computer problems, my computer has gone kaboom while writing this measly authors note _three_ times. I got a BSOD and two freezes requiring a manual reboot. My computer is on it's way out and fast. I am not spending the time to repair it simply because, within a few months, I will have the money to replace it with a new, fancy computer, which I have been intending to do for a few years now.

Either way, I really apologize about not getting this story out. I want to publish it, I really do, it's just that writing that story kills my ability to write my others, which deserve the same amount of attention I will devote to the rewrite.

For those of you who've been so patient with me, I decided to put in a bit of what I've written for the rewrite. It's a bit from the second or third chapter, in a very different invasion of Karakura Town, and is still very much a rough draft. I haven't edited much if at all and the scene will likely be reworked during the final stages, I'm not entirely happy with it, yet.

* * *

Aizen's inaction was worrying. All this work and for what? Aizen was just standing there like nothing in the world could hurt him.

What was Aizen planning? Most of Baraggan's Fracción were now dead, the pillars holding the fake Karakura Town in place were intact, Harribel's Fracción were going berserk, Starrk had been corralled away from Lilynette… and yet Aizen was doing nothing. He was just sitting there smiling his gentle, malevolent smile.

Gin sank down on his haunches and watched Aizen from behind. He fingered the hilt of Shinsō, wondering whether he could get his shot in now. Aizen was too busy watching the battle to pay attention to him, wasn't he?

Then again… he was Aizen. Gin's smile wavered a bit but ultimately ended up widening. Silly. How could he have thought that now was the time to attack. Aizen had layers of defenses up even in his calm observance of the battle.

"Kaname," said Aizen in his silky voice.

Gin cocked his head as he watched the scene between the master and servant unfold. Tōsen had been a fool to trust Aizen so blindly—excuse the pun. Hollows were subservient by nature, always willing to bow to the strongest, but shinigami? They had rational thought—or at least were supposed to.

"It seems like a good time to test your power," said Aizen. He waved vaguely in the direction of his top three Espada, "Before reinforcements arrive."

"Yes, sir," Tōsen bowed deeply and walked towards the fray.

How had the well-respected and supposedly intelligent Captain Tōsen Kaname have fallen so far as to let himself become a guinea pig for some twisted afterthought of Aizen's. Tōsen Kaname was a fool of the highest caliber. Allowing himself to be turned into a—probably—incomplete Vizard by one of the shadiest Arrancar Aizen had ever created? What happened to Tōsen?

Through his thick lashes, Gin watched Tosen pull that mask out of nowhere, shocking everyone else speechless. Even Starrk paused his fight with Captain Kyōraku for a moment to gawk, although he could have just been using it as an excuse to stop the battle. Lazy butt.

"Gin."

"Yes, Captain Aizen?" asked Gin.

"Isn't he an excellent example of my power?" asked Aizen. He glanced backwards towards Gin for a brief moment. Gin's smile dropped away, though Aizen pretended not to notice as he turned back towards the battle.

"Yes, he is," said Gin.

Aizen was damn frightful. How—no, did he know? Did he have so much as an inkling? Did he care? Gin pondered on those questions for a while. The happenings of the battle fell out of his mind as he continued to cycle through the possibilities.

"I CAN SEE! I CAN SEE!"

Oops. There went the rest of Tōsen's sanity. That was an awful little thing he hadn't considered when allowing himself to be experimented on by the Octava—or _former_ Octava. Szayel was a funny guy. Complete sadist, that one, but funny all the same. The guy knew psychological torture like no other, not even Ulquiorra could compete. He knew quite well how to make his subjects into crazy-bombs with a timer. Apparently that did not only apply to his unfortunate Fracción.

Did Aizen plan that, too? Gin had to wonder. Did he tell Szayel to break his third-in-command? Something Gin had always suspected about Aizen drifted back into his mind. Was Aizen a master of improvising or was he really, truly that well thought through that nothing could surprise him?

Gin doubted the latter could be entirely true. Aizen was smart, scary smart but he wasn't a computer that just whittled away its days thinking of every possible counter and counterattack to every possible move the Gotei could make and all the solutions resulting from those infinite possibilities. That just wasn't possible. At least not in Gin's mind, he could see nothing like that ever being possible for anyone, no matter how smart.

All Gin knew was that Aizen was too smart and ambitious for his own good and that could make him foolhardy. He was tampering with things that by their very nature, should not be tampered with. Not that that was why Gin was plotting his betrayal but he didn't doubt it's influence over his actions.

A sudden, harsh pulse of reiatsu caused Gin to break out of his pondering. He glanced around and sighed. Baraggan always had a nasty temper. Some day, though not today, that would be his downfall. Gin knew that Aizen was using Kyōka Suigetsu on even his subjects, Gin himself included. No Espada would die today unless a big, _big_ fluke occurred.

Maybe if that Kurosaki Ichigo showed up and had a brand new superpower to use or something along those lines. No, there was no way that was going to happen today. The kid cheated his way to Bankai, most people—Aizen aside—were lucky if they got just one chance to cheat reality. No way the kid would get two or three or four.

No. Gin would sit patiently and wait for his chance to strike. He was a snake, as he had told everyone. He bit even the hand that fed him. In the meantime, he would pretend like nothing was wrong, like always.

"Gin?"

"Yes, Captain Aizen?"

Aizen gazed lazily out over the battlefield, "Where is Wonderweiss?"

Gin was struck dumb. Was Aizen just in a testy mood today or was something else going on? Gin smiled again and cleared his throat quietly before saying, "He's in Las Noches by your orders, sir."

"I suppose it would be too late to call him, then," said Aizen.

Gin's heart pounded wildly in his chest. If Aizen wanted Wonderweiss then that meant… oh, dear.

"Move on my word," said Aizen. He grasped the hilt of his Zanpakutō and pulled it a tiny, tiny bit out of the sheath. A tiny glint of sunlight off the metal shone into Gin's eyes, he gathered his reiryoku into his feet, waiting for the command.

**"Reduce All Creation to Ash, Ryūjin Jakka! Jōkaku Enjō!"**

**"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."**

There it was. Gin leapt away as fast as he could, using a dozen Shunpo to get as far away from where he previously stood as possible. Soon, the enormous flame prison surrounded the illusion Aizen had created. If they had been trapped inside that thing, it would have taken considerable effort to get out even with Kyōka Suigetsu on their side.

Gin glanced over far to his left, Aizen was lounging again on the other side of the battle, all the way across the fake Karakura Town. Gin chuckled. Sometimes, Aizen was just as foolish as all his underlings. Why the man just continued to toy with the enemies when he had the power to crush them all under his thumb.

When would he use his illusions to stun everybody senseless and walk around, loping their heads off one by one. That seemed like the practical thing to do in Gin's mind. If his sword was Kyōka Suigetsu rather than Shinsō, that's how he'd go about using it. Made more sense than running the poor sword to the point of overloading it, didn't it? Aizen's willing choice to run a dozen or more illusions at one time on each individual combatant was the single thing Gin thought could be his one mistake. One slip up in just one of those illusions could send his whole house of cards tumbling down.

"How much longer do you think we should drag this out?"

Gin glanced to his side, Aizen was right beside him. Whether the man was an illusion or not, it didn't matter, "Oh? Are you thinking of retreating already, Captain Aizen?"

"I would like to see what happens when I let them off with a warning," Aizen smiled at the chaos swirling around him, the fights, the Bankais, the Shikais, the Resurreccións, "Did you not notice they left Seireitei completely defenseless?"

"The thought came to mind once or twice, yeah," said Gin. Even he had to admit that was a horrible, horrible mistake on the Gotei's part. They were so naïve, it hurt, "Do you think they're gonna realize what they did if you just walk off, though?"

"That is where you come in, Gin," said Aizen.

Their cloaks fluttered as Suì-Fēng Shunpo'ed past after an illusion of Baraggan. Gin's smile grew a tiny bit in both amusement at the hapless, flailing shinigami around them and at what Aizen could possibly be further planning, "What do I have to do?"

"Go back to Hueco Mundo, get a Gillian, and send it to Soul Society, will you?" asked Aizen.

"How naughty, Captain Aizen," said Gin in a sing-song voice.

Aizen turned away from his second-in-command and looked back on the battle, "I will follow you shortly with my Espada and the remaining Fracción."

Gin gave a joking, two-fingered salute to his 'superior' and reopened the Garganta to Hueco Mundo. He might not like Aizen, he might hate Aizen with a murderous vengeance, but that didn't make the sound of sending a hungry Hollow straight into Rukongai not sound hilariously fun. Watching Soul Society squirm was a pastime of his even before he was a traitor sentenced to death.

"Here, Hollow! C'mon, I've got some food for ya!" he shouted upon stepping into the vast sands of Hueco Mundo. He knew nothing would hear him in the vast expanse but damn if it didn't make him laugh to think he was calling a soul-eating behemoth like a tiny kitten.

He knew exactly what _would_ attract the thing, though. He removed Shinsō from underneath his cloak and jammed it into the air and turned it like a key. There. A free and open gate into Rukongai.

Gin plopped himself on the sands, folded up his legs, and waited. He hummed a soft tune to himself as he shot down at least a dozen regular Hollows before the required Gillian appeared. Gillian Hollows were weird, Gin had decided. They looked like clowns who toppled into the curtains of their own stage.

It slowed its approach upon feeling Gin's reiatsu. Gin smiled, he'd found one that was a bit more intelligent than the rest. Good. Although 'the rest' were only slightly more intelligent than your average tuna.

"C'mere, little Hollow, don't you want a good meal? You don't look the type to get one too often." Gin stood up and wagged his finger playfully at the monster, coaxing it forward with the promise of food, "That's a good boy—you are a boy, aren't you? Doesn't matter anyway, just a bit more."

With a tiny bit more coaxing, Gin stepped aside and the smell of fresh souls took over for him. The Gillian shrieked with what Gin could assume was joy—or maybe it was just hunger—and dove through the open gate. Gin closed and locked it as soon as the monster vanished from view.

He waved and smiled at the gate as it slowly faded from view, "Have fun, Soul Society, Hollow-boy!"

* * *

For those of you who are still here, I can give a bit more info on the rewrite:

1. It's reincarnation will be called "Harry Potter and the Winter War" and definitely be published on my new account (xiphus).

2. The story will take part in three distinct arcs taking place over several years in-universe.

3. Powers are decently balanced between the wizards, hollows, and shinigami. Wizards can do some damage in a short amount of time, despite the physical strength and zanpakuto abilities of the shinigami and arrancar.

4. Characters will die and the story will be darker overall. I plan to kill _at least_ one of my personal favorite Bleach characters, so don't assume your favorite is safe. This is a war, a dangerous one, and I thought Kubo handled it poorly by having _only_ villains die during the invasion. Rowling did a much better job in that regard.

5. On the above statement, I'm definitely "fixing" certain things about Bleach that put me off throughout the series. It's through plot and character development, don't worry! I'm not arbitrarily changing how things work for the sake of my own entertainment, even I make myself work for the satisfaction of getting there.

6. A major part of the story revolves around a few of the arrancar and Espada. Voldemort is still an arrancar like I had initially planned but he is not the only one who will have major involvement with the plot. And no, it's probably not who you think.

7. No one is going to Hogwarts! Actually, that's a lie. No one is going to- as in attending- Hogwarts.

Anyway, sorry about the delay, it's what I think is best for both stories. Sacrilege is a hard story in the same way this is a fun one. Love both but can't have them both at the same time.

It'll be a while before I get the rewrite out but by then, I hope the plot will have fully matured and I will really be ready to give it the attention it deserves.


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